Zoom Link: ‘How to Navigate an Increasingly Dangerous World’

Live Session Today at 12 noon EDT / 9 a.m. PDT

Someone has forwarded me he video: “‘I tried to block them with my body’: South Korean politician on confronting soldier during martial law.’” The woman who tussled with an armed soldier and may have saved South Korean democracy on December 3, 2024, turns out to be An Gwi-ryeong, spokesperson for South Korea’s Democratic Party. As she turned away troops responding to an order of martial law, so that lawmakers could enter the National Assembly building and reverse it, she cried out: “Aren’t you embarrassed? I say to you, aren’t you embarrassed?”

Her response to the Western interviewer is moving (re-translated here for greater accuracy):

- What would you like people from around the world to know about what happened here Tuesday night?

- South Korea has a proud history of having established democracy through the power of the people. However, since entering the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, it has been crumbling and retreating…. Also, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s behavior of suppressing the press and of assembly has reached a very serious state. So I hope the international community will pay attention to South Korea’s crisis of democracy.

South Korea developed from a “Third World” nation into the twelfth largest economy in the world and the fourth largest in Asia, mainly because of democratization.

A robust democracy allows for more advantages than we may recognize: economic prosperity, a true meritocracy, a flowering of civilization, justice, security, stability, and collective mental health. In other words, it is not just a certain kind of political system but a condition for, and a sign of, societal health.

Troubling signs of a decline in democracy can be seen in everyday suffering. This week, the assassination of the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, in the middle of New York City, has riveted the nation. The unknown gunman left behind casings of bullets that say, “deny”, “defend”, and “depose”—all words associated with companies’ denial of health insurance, such as, “deny the claim,” “defend the lawsuit,” and “depose the patient.” Social media exploded with expressions of rage and frustration, with posts such as: “This claim for sympathy has been denied.”

The emotional outpouring indicates to what degree companies have been ruthlessly denying coverage—frequently at the loss of life—for profit. Those in the medical field have been experiencing reimbursement denials, cuts in pay, and hospital closures for decades.

However, this is perhaps just one of the most glaring examples of a culture of exploitation: when true—not nominal—democracy declines, inequality escalates, dangerous personalities increasingly seize power, ordinary people are oppressed, and organized crime flourishes, making more likely desperate people taking matters into their own hands.

Announcement:

Dr. Bandy X. Lee is inviting you to a live session in a series: